Swiftcurrent Creek regret

A little one for @Scimitar .. :D I hope the powerplay is alright.

The to-do list was becoming shorter, but Bazi still couldn't bring herself to call a meeting. What would she say? Fox and I had a little bitch-fight - and now I can't really be arsed to pick up where she left off? It wasn't far from the truth. The perceived burden of leadership pressed in on her from all directions. She had noted Tuwawi's temporary absence and read a thousand things into it. Would they desert her without a word? Take the pups away? It surprised Bazi how attached she was to the little tots - especially Maera, whose company she sought more often than actual adults. They were too young to make decisions on their own, and she did not doubt that Njal would take his family far, far away from Swiftcurrent Creek if their plan was indeed to leave.

It was nearing sunset when Bazi finally stopped. It didn't take much sniffing around to locate Scimitar - obediently resting as prescribed, or perhaps his body had finally told him 'No' - and slump down at his side. She pressed the entire length of her back into his warm, sturdy side, stretching her limbs like a cat. One dainty paw flew up to her face, shielding her eyes from the intense light of evening. That, or his expression when she said: "I can't do it."

He had scoured out a shaded area, the exhaustion from the previous week seeping in to him as if age had suddenly gripped him with vengeance. Finally, with the help of the newcomer, Paar, his wound had begun to heal. That, and the agouti male was now following her strict orders to heart -- he needed to get better before more crap occurred.

He was seemingly dead to the world -- his chest rose and fell in quiet breaths as sleep overtook him, and yet he was lulled from this dream world when a familiar scent overtook him.. And then a familiar touch. She pressed against him, sliding against him and placing a delicate paw over her eyes. Blinking, the male stirred, sweeping his muzzle in her direction, though unable to see her eyes. Uncertain to why she now sought him out, it did not become clear with her statement. Seemingly simple, it was anything but, and shifting his weight, the Frostfur touched his nose to the crown of her head. "Do what?" She could have meant so many things.. She couldn't deal with the Sunspire anymore. She couldn't deal with Jace and his idiotic self.. She couldn't deal with the questions the pack likely had.

It became very apparent in that moment that she had been forced to grow up perhaps a little too soon.

"Do what?"

True to the ways of men everywhere, Scimitar did not simply pretend to know what she was talking about respond with a vague there, there. If there was a problem, he wanted to fix it - and to do that, he required more information. Bazi felt panic fill her chest like water from a burst dam. She thought long and hard about answering, but eventually, quietly, admitted the truth: "Lead," she whispered. "I can't.. lead. Not alone. I don't know what I'm doing!" The paw fell to the ground with a soft thud, and Bazi twisted her neck to look up at the face that had kissed her head. Her voice was a little shriek-y now, the way it tended to be when she was stressed or upset.

"I don't think Njal and Tuwawi will stay here," she told him frankly. Suspicion had blossomed into insurmountable fact, even though neither Sveijarn wolf had said a thing to her about it. "I think they will go, and take the pups. I don't know what Shadow will do, or Razo, or any of them. I just..I just don't want to call this meeting and find out that they're all just dying to leave me." The fair girl blinked back tears. "I think Danica would stay," she finished lamely. That, at least, she was confident of - and it filled her with hot pride to think that the golden female might choose her over Fox (or any other corner of the Teekons map).

Shattering before him, the plush she-wolf he had grown so close to since his arrival revealed a side to her he had never seen. The shriek that escaped her with her insecurities stirred a blink from the male, and shifting his weight, he pressed closer to her. "Bazi, you've been leading since I arrived," he murmured, his muzzle pending down to preen at the soft fur behind her ear. He inhaled sharply then, taking in the familiar scent that was her.

"You have Galileo, Shadow.. " He paused his muzzle pulling back to search her face. "You have me, Bazi. I'm not going anywhere." More words threatened to spill from his mouth then. But now was not the time.

There was a pause as he thought of the others.. And while she seemed desperate to make them stay, he could see no valid point to it. "Tuwawi has been upset for awhile now. Let her and Njal go -- the pack will not be better off in their paws. You are the leader the pack has come to love."

Scimitar touched her gently behind the ear, and spoke in that dark, booming voice that might have poured from his mouth as thick, golden honey if sound had a physical form. She gazed up at him, searching his aquamarine eyes for hesitance and finding none. Every world was confidently spoken, and she clung to it like a raft in a storm.

"Tuwawi has been upset for awhile now. Let her and Njal go -- the pack will not be better off in their paws. You are the leader the pack has come to love."

He paused to let the words soak in. Bazi drew her paws to her chest and allowed her gaze to leave his face, drifting into the clouds behind his head. He was right. As much as she loved and respected the Tuwawi and Njal, both had become withdrawn since the birth of their pups, even more so after the business with the Sunspire. Tuwawi was constantly on edge, and it rubbed off on her mate. It was no in the pack's best interest for its highest ranks to be taken up by wolves that were not 110% committed to the Creek.

Bazi lapsed into silence whilst she thought about it. When her gaze returned to Scimitar's face, it was with renewed confidence - and an idea. "I'm too young.." she began, breaking eye contact to roll onto her belly and face him as an equal. "But you aren't, and the pack knows you - especially after that hunt..." A smile tightened the girl's black lips, and with a thrill and a flourish she announced (rather than asked): "You will be my Beta."

He did not know where her concern stemmed from – a quizzical look was given as she mentioned her age, and he considered it. To him, it hadn’t been Fox’s age and lack of wisdom which had almost brought a terrible mistake upon the Creek, but her absolute stubbornness and selfishness. If she held any IQ at all, she would have learned from these mistakes.. but somehow, despite not having been at the altercation between her and Bazi, he doubted she had taken much of a lesson away with her.

Bazi was different. She worried for the pack in a way no other would – pack, to her, was more than having her ego stroked. It was life. But there was a spark of confidence that came upon her features then, and yet before he could croon a growl and nip her cheek affectionately, she announced him as her Beta.

It came as a surprise, albeit a pleasant one. Leadership was not something he had strove for – his recent thoughts of seeking Neverwinter Forest and claiming it as his own stemmed more from his love of the forest itself than anything else.. but that was not to say he also had not considered the notion as well.

Her confidence did not reach him though – he was not entirely sure the pack would be quite so welcoming of him as such. ”You think the pack will accept this? You think Njal and Tuwawi will accept this?”

Bazi was not having one of her Reasonable days, and Scimitar's skepticism was met with a sour pout. "I don't care what Njal and Tuwawi think," she shot back, the word escaping naked and unfiltered from between her teeth. The venom must have shocked her, because she sucked the air back in a little gasp and squeezed both eyes shut as if the sound if the words had hurt her. When they opened again, her expression was soft and apologetic. "I just.. I think they're distracted by their family," she whined, "And you said it yourself - Tuwawi isn't even happy here! But you are - aren't you?"

He was silent for a moment -- his ears twitching at her outburst, his brows furrowing as she flinched at them an instant after. The stress that seemed to weigh heavily upon her shoulders was something he wished he could aide her in-- but he truly did not know how. She was a tender age, and now she held the responsibility of the pack on her shoulders. He wasn't even sure if she realized that it was better this way -- that Fox was not leading them anymore was a blessing.

Her question could have mused many answers from him in that moment. I'm happy with you, was the one that pressed against his tongue so painfully, but he did not relinquish it. Now was not the time. She was far too vulnerable right now, and the last she needed was a confession that would likely only confuse her further.

"Of course I am," he murmured, his muzzle dipping lower to press to her cheek reassuringly. "I wouldn't be here otherwise." But even more important.. "The question is.. are you?"

"The question is.. are you?"

Bazi's reply was an instant, almost defensive "Yes." She must have realized that it didn't sound entirely convincing, because she cleared her throat to reiterate. "Yes. I am happy here. Or .. I wouldn't be happier anywhere else. A good home takes work and dedication and time." She was parroting her mother's idealism now, raising weak little straw-man copies of words she strove to believe in wholeheartedly. Tuwawi had offered to give her a home, and Bazi had admitted to herself that the offer had been tempting, to say the least. But Swiftcurrent Creek was home, and it deserved better than three Alphas in the space of a year.

It didn't occur to her how selfish she was being. She was blind to everything that burned unspoken behind Scimitar's beautiful, aquamarine eyes. There was only Bazi's problems and Bazi's pack and Bazi's story - even though she had just unceremoniously dumped part of that responsibility on Scimitar, without really asking how he felt about it.

"Come on. Let's go tell them." Decision made, then. Bazi got swiftly to her feet, nosing Scimitar's big, fluffy ear in encouragement.

Fade? :D /runs into your other thread

Sounds good!

As much as he felt he knew the pale dove before him, it was moments like these where he would hesitate on that assumption, his eyes questioning her as they burned in her direction, studying her face to see if there was an inkling of truth upon her beautiful features. But she was still very unreadable to him -- a mystery in many aspects, and so he allowed the discussion to slide by the wayside.

She was upon her paws with a swiftness he could not mimic, and as her nose grazed his ear to encourage him to do the same, a rumbling croon escaped him as his own nose would bump beneath her chin in turn -- submission to his newly acclaimed Alpha. Rising with her, the large male might have shadowed her by height, but there was a natural way in which Bazi moved that seemed to demand attention. His eyes, no matter the situation, always seemed to be upon her.

Trailing after her, he felt growing apprehension to how the pack would react to this news. He would come to realize the drama that would continue to unfold as the pack meeting unraveled.